Category Archives: Young Adult/Teen 12-18

Review and Giveaway: Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

I’m today’s stop on the Irish Banana Blog Tour for Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham, and I can’t wait to tell you about the book. Stick around for my review, a list of the other tour stops and where you might find great stuff like Q&A with the author, AND don’t miss the chance to win one of three hardcover copies of the book in the giveaway below!

Dreamland Burning
Jennifer Latham
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Available February 21, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Dreamland Burning

When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family’s property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past… and the present.

Nearly one hundred years earlier, a misguided violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm. In a country rife with violence against blacks and a hometown segregated by Jim Crow, Will must make hard choices on a painful journey towards self discovery and face his inner demons in order to do what’s right the night Tulsa burns.

Through intricately interwoven alternating perspectives, Jennifer Latham’s lightning-paced page-turner brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to blazing life and raises important question about the complex state of US race relations – both yesterday and today.

My Review

It took me some time to get into the characters. I kind of wanted the past part of the story to be told from the point-of-view of this spunky little girl named Ruby instead of from William’s perspective. He makes some bad choices especially at the beginning, and even he knows it. It took me a while to get over that and begin to really get into his character. Eventually, I felt like he found his courage and that helped a lot.

I kind of felt the same about Rowan, too, though for different reasons. I really liked her relationship with James and the deep (but not romantic) connection they shared. The fact that they both felt like misfits made them really sympathetic characters. I found it easy to root for them to find their places and solve the mystery of the unidentified body found on Rowan’s family’s property.

One of my favorite elements of the story was the fact that it focuses on a little-known or discussed event in American history– the Tulsa race massacre. Having that story juxtaposed against a present-day setting featuring current race relations issues made for a powerful and moving tale. The writing style is a little less artful and more frank, occasionally bordering on preachy, but the story is no less important and necessary for it. The diverse character cast and spotlight on history would make this an interesting choice for a high school project. Overall, I recommend this book to historical fiction and mystery fans as well as readers looking for books that explore race relations.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
Rowan’s mother is African American and her father Caucasian. Her best friend James is part Native American, part black and identifies as asexual. William’s mother is Native American and his father Caucasian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity and crude language used with moderate frequency. Racial epithets used a few times.

Romance/Sexual Content
James and Rowan pretend to be a couple to irritate an older couple watching them disapprovingly.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to prayer. At one point Rowan exclaims that James is a god because he’s found important information.

Violent Content
A KKK member describes brutalizing young black men and brags about killing them.

Drug Content
William and his friend get drunk on beer. William picks a fight while drunk and breaks his wrist. Rowan recalls the night she and James swiped a bottle of liquor and drank it together over shared secrets.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

About Jennifer Latham

website | twitter | facebook

I’m a grown-up army brat with two kids, two dogs, and a husband. After working in a morgue, a maximum-security prison, a heroin detox, and assorted middle and high schools, I decided to try may hand at writing. Happily, it stuck.

I love watching people.

And I love writing about the characters who live inside my head—even when they don’t play nice.

Visit the Other Tour Stops!

Week 1:

2/13: He Said Books or Me – Review
2/14: Bookmark Lit – Cover Colors
2/15: Megnificient Books – Review
2/16: Here’s to Happy Endings – Guest Post
2/17: The Story Sanctuary – Review – You are here!

Week 2:

2/20: Awkwordly Emma – Q&A
2/21: Rattle the Pages – Review
2/22: Such A Novel Idea – Guest Post
2/23: Lekeisha the Bookworm – Review
2/24: The Irish Banana Review – Fast 5

Enter to Win the Giveaway

Three winners will receive a hardcover copy of Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham. (US/Canada only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Review: Denton Little’s Still Not Dead by Lance Rubin

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Denton Little’s Still Not Dead
Lance Rubin
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published February 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Denton Little is supposed to be dead. Mandatory testing that accurately predicts date of death set his deathdate as the same day as his senior prom, only instead of dying, Denton broke out in a bizarre purple and red rash and, um, didn’t actually die. Turns out, Denton might be the key to ending the stranglehold the DIA (Death Intelligence Agency) has on everyone. A rebel group led by someone Denton thought he’d never see again seems to have answers he desperately wants, but they also have a poorly concealed agenda that Denton doesn’t trust. What he really wants is to find out why he lived and use that information to save his best friend Paolo, whose deathdate is less than a month away.

I heard of this series in Charleston at YALLFest last November when I went to an author panel and heard Lance Rubin speak. He’s pretty much hilarious, and I felt like, okay, if his book is half as funny as he is, I definitely want to read it. Truth? It’s more than half as funny. Denton’s voice is fantastic—feels like spending an afternoon with a goofy, awkward kid in all the most amazing ways. Also, I loved Paolo. I think you’d have to be actually dead not to like him. He’s kind of the unfettered heart of the story and the loyal best friend. I loved him.

I wished there wasn’t so much profanity and other content in the story because that’s a thing for me and because I know it’s a thing for some of the people who I think would otherwise totally love this book. I also kept forgetting that Denton was a high school senior and thinking he was younger—which I think is just me.

The friendship and humor made this book a super fun read. The suspense elements blended pretty well with the humor (does that seem weird? I guess it does, but I thought it worked.) and gave it a cross-genre feel that I liked. I definitely recommend this to readers looking for a laugh-out-loud book or a less serious dystopian tale. If you liked Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski but want something lighter, this is probably the right speed for you.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Denton’s best friend Paolo and his sister are Hispanic. (Did I mention I love Paolo?)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently. Some crude language.

Romance/Sexual Content
Denton slept with his best friend’s sister before this book begins and mentions it without giving details other than that he was not sober and they both thought was about to die. He has a couple of sexual experiences described in moderate detail. One instance leaves behind some physical evidence that’s discussed a bit by Denton. There are several instances of boy/girl kissing and one boy/boy kissing.

Spiritual Content
At first Denton wonders if he really did die and is having a really strange experience in heaven (totally not the kind of heaven he was expecting).

Violent Content
Denton’s on the run from a governmental agency pretty determined to capture him and rumored to plan on torturing or killing him. Some brief chase scenes, bad guys with guns, that sort of thing.

Drug Content
Denton’s brother provides him with a fake ID that allows him to buy alcohol. Denton and his friends drink on more than one occasion. Paolo and Denton smoke pot. Paolo buys it from a kid at his school. It seems like maybe it began as a thing to do because they were going to die soon, so why not? But they do smoke more often than that.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Piecing Me Together
Renée Watson
Bloomsbury
Published February 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Piecing Me Together

Jade believes the only way she’ll find success is to get out of her neighborhood. That’s why she accepts a scholarship to a privileged, mostly white school. It’s why she puts her studies first—no time for boys, no time for goofing around. As a girl from a poor neighborhood, Jade knows she must appreciate the opportunities that come her way, even those that treat her as less-than. When she joins a mentorship program meant to help “at-risk” (read: black) girls, Jade’s frustration mounts. How is her so-called mentor supposed to teach her anything when she doesn’t have her own life together? How are the group’s pointless activities supposed to change anything for her?

My Review

As Jade wrestles with the injustices in her life, she begins to realize the only way things will change is for her to find her own voice, to speak up, and challenge the people around her. Her courage and vulnerability make her story deeply moving and accessible. When she shares her experiences with racism with a white friend, at one point her friend sort of shrugs and says, “I don’t know what you want me to say.” Jade’s ability to articulate this response—support me, believe me, she tells her friend—opens conversation and dialogue about race relations issues.

Overall, this is a rich story. It’s easy to connect with Jade through her experiences, to love her, and to understand how she feels and why. It’s easy to cheer for her victories, as a young woman and an artist. I loved that she’s a collagist, and I loved the way her art was a key component of the story. I loved the way history (the story relates some information about York, an African American man who traveled with Lewis and Clark) and poetry played a key role in the story as well.

I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction or novels about art and friendship.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Jade, her family, and her best friend Lee Lee are African American. Her mentor comes from a wealthy African American family. Her friend Sam is a white girl being raised by her grandparents. Jade is studying Spanish hoping for an opportunity to travel in an educational program. Each chapter begins with a Spanish word translated to English.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jade attends a meeting with her mentorship group that focuses on dating and relationships. She’s not interested in either one, and the conversation stays pretty vague.

Spiritual Content
Jade comes home to her mom listening to gospel music and cleaning. Following a terrible event, Jade asks her uncle to say a prayer. He calls prayer a “poor man’s drug,” and tells Jade the person she needs to be talking to isn’t God but politicians who can make changes. Jade prays anyway.

Violent Content
Four police officers beat up an unarmed fifteen-year-old black girl when they break up a party. Jade and her friend hear about it on the news, but feel shaken up.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog.

Review: Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Nowhere Near You
Leah Thomas
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After Ollie’s mother died, he left home with Dr. Auburn-Stache to travel the United States meeting other kids with bizarre abilities resulting from lab experiments. In letters to Moritz, the German boy with no eyes who has become his best friend, Ollie relates the journey. He meets a boy with bones so brittle they snap like chalk, and a girl who removes her heart when her feelings become too intense. Inspired by Ollie’s cross-country adventure, Moritz makes a journey of his own, joining a prestigious school where he meets a girl with two mouths. Then a terrible discovery leaves eternally optimistic Ollie reeling, and a horrible mistake propels Moritz back into isolation. But the unusual group faces a bigger risk, one that can’t be tackled unless both boys face the very thing they fear most.

Nowhere Near You sat on my bedside table for a crazy amount of time before I finally faced my own fear and picked it up. I loved Because You’ll Never Meet Me, the beginning of Ollie and Moritz’s story, so much that I worried about reading more. Apparently I’m super susceptible to this kind of sequel-pressure, because I worry about this sort of thing a lot.

That said, once I started reading, I felt like I was back in the story world I loved so much in the first book. I love Ollie’s upbeat, indomitable voice—he’s like a Labrador puppy, leaping and bounding all over the place and convinced the world is a fantastic, friendly place. But I also love Moritz’s buttoned-up, melancholy tone. I want a Fieke in my life. She’s the kind of prickly but protective friend that every sensitive person needs, and she definitely added some punch to Moritz’s letters. Klaus was another favorite of mine. His quiet, devoted friendship won me over right away.

But I think one of the unsung heroes of the story has to be Moritz’s dad. I loved Moritz’s description of his dad being a man of few words, so that when he spoke, each word had weight because it was obviously carefully considered. His character bears out that description, too. Even though he’s not in the story much, I liked him and it was obvious that he meant a great deal to Moritz and had a huge impact on his life.

In terms of plot, this was always going to be a story which required a serious willingness to suspend disbelief as so many characters have bizarre traits and abilities. I liked that Leah Thomas used this story to explore Moritz’s lack of sight beyond his supernatural ability to compensate via echolocation. At one point illness robs Moritz of his ability and reminds him how fragile he is and how dependent he is on his hearing for both vision and sound.

If you haven’t read Because You’ll Never Meet Me, you need to start with that one first. You could probably follow a great deal of the story without having read it, but you’ll be on the outside of a lot of inside jokes between Ollie and Moritz, and seriously. It’s really good. So there’s that, too.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Moritz, who lives in Germany, was born with no eyes. He can “see” using echolocation, but illness interferes with his ability to hear and he can’t discern color, which becomes a problem in school.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Boy/boy kissing. One brief, vague comment about touching and an insinuation that the boys have had sex. Moritz repeatedly tells Ollie that he loves him.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
An accident involving a school bus injures some kids. A girl has the ability to remove her heart from her chest in a non-gory way. Her heart sits in a pocket in her chest and is completely enclosed, so not bloody or anything when she takes it out. At one point she threatens to put it into a blender (to commit suicide).

Drug Content
A boy from school gives Moritz alcohol to drink.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Wanted by Betsy Schow

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

Wanted
Betsy Schow
Sourcebooks Fire
Available February 7, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Rexi, Robin Hood’s daughter, scrambles to make amends for accidentally releasing the wicked witch from her prison and mucking up everyone’s happily ever after. That’s sort of the problem, though: no matter what Rexi does, everything ends up an even bigger mess. But all that has to change now that Rexi is faced with becoming Forgotten, erased from Story forever. Rexi vows to do whatever it takes to break the curse that binds her to chipper princess Dorthea and rewrite her own story, to become a hero.

I think the best part about this book, for me, were the quotes opening each chapter. They were very tongue-in-cheek references to fairytale stories and characters. I also really loved the whole mixed up fairytale situation in Wanted. Instead of a gorgeous mirror mounted on the wall, the magic mirror has become a compact whose rhyme is broken. Rexi’s just-roll-with-it attitude made some of these unexpected shifts pretty funny.

The whole story has a pretty snarky voice, which sometimes grated on my nerves. There were moments I was like, okay, does Rexi actually like anything? But ultimately her deep desire to be wanted, to be valued by others and even loved totally won me over.

Fans looking for something a little older than the Ever After High books, but with much the same twisty-but-silly fairytale quality should definitely give this a read. I think it would appeal to fans of the School for Good and Evil books, too.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
The major characters seem to be white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Rexi swears in fairytale words, shouting things like, “Spell no,” or “Glam it.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief boy/girl kissing.

Spiritual Content
Lots of magic. The Storymaker has the ability to write stories, but he’s not a purely benevolent force. The story definitely takes on a “life is what you make it” kind of attitude, but also emphasizes the value of heroism and good deeds. Characters who don’t live a heroic story become forgotten and fade from memory and existence.

Violent Content
Some scuffling and battles. Brief gore. One of Rexi’s allies swaps heads with other characters, which is a little it icky. Not a lot of gross description, but a little bit for sure.

Drug Content
Rexi drinks tree sap tonic to keep her memories from becoming confused. She makes a very brief reference to feeling as if she’s had some spiked beverage at one point when she feels woozy.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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January 2017 Monthly Wrap-Up

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

It’s January 2017

Wow. So we made it to 2017! Yay. I’m excited about sharing so many great books this year. You can see some of them already posted on my 2017 Reading List. You may also notice that I have a new feature in my sidebar. You’ll find buttons that take you to a list of my past reviews based on the book’s target age or genre of the books. I’m also working on creating a master list of reviews so you can skim the whole list pretty easily. I hope to have that posted by the end of February.

My New E-book: Reviews Wanted

I’ve also released my first e-book which aims to help authors successfully network with book review bloggers. You can find out more about it here.

Another thing I’ve been working on behind-the-scenes are some resources for parents and readers that might help you better navigate The Story Sanctuary and post ideas that will help you find new books based on novels you read and enjoyed.

If there are things you’d like to see or see more of here on the site, please share them with me! I’m always open to new ideas and experimenting with new ways to get information about great books out to you.

Also – if you know of new Christian YA releases, please let me know. I’ve got a few in the Blink line from Zondervan on my review list, but I’m having a hard time finding and keeping up with other Christian YA titles. There are several small presses that do them, but even those are sometimes hard to keep up with. I used to review a lot more Christian YA. I enjoy reading and reviewing mainstream titles, too, and it’s important to me to do that, too.

Here’s what you missed in terms of reviews this month…

January 2017 Reviews

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Aftermath by Clara Kensie

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Loving vs. Virginia by Patricia Hruby Powell

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

The Radius of Us by Marie Marquardt

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Life in a Fishbowl by Len Vlahos

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Almost There by Laurel Garver

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Author Jaimie Engle’s Birthday Celebration and Giveaway

Also in exciting news, my friend and favorite local author is hosting a giveaway in honor of her birthday! Check it out for a chance to win three e-books and a $5 Starbucks gift card! (Click the link or the image above for more details and to enter the giveaway. Ends February 11, 2017)

You can find my reviews and content notes on her books here.

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